Rolexopedia

Rolex Day-Date 1804

Day-Date › 1804

Rolex Day-Date 1804
Rolex Day-Date 1804

The 1804 is the diamond-bezel member of the four-digit Day-Date family. It shares the 36mm case and caliber 1555/1556 lineage with the fluted 1803, replacing the fluted bezel with a gem-set bezel. Auction and reference sources document yellow, white, and pink gold as well as platinum, with several gem-set dial and calendar branches.


Core facts

detail value
reference 1804
family Day-Date
production approximately 1959/60 to 1977/78; printed catalogue evidence is dated 1961 and sources differ on the first production year
movement caliber 1555 (to c. 1965), then caliber 1556; hacking from 1972; no quickset
case 36mm 18k gold or platinum President, yellow, white, pink/rose gold, and platinum
crystal acrylic
bezel factory diamond-set; surviving catalogued examples have different stone counts
bracelet President; gem-set President bracelets are documented on some gem-set examples
dial diamond-index, geometric-engraved, Eastern-Arabic, and Stella lacquer, gem-set configurations the 1804's signature
crown Twinlock screw-down
sibling references 1803 (fluted), 1806 (Florentine), 1807 (bark), 1811 (Morellis)
predecessor originals-era 6610 / 6611 / 6612 cluster
successor 5-digit 18048 (yellow gold), 18049 (white gold), 18046 (platinum), all diamond-bezel

Where it sits in the line

The 1804 is the diamond-bezel member of the four-digit Day-Date group. The 1806 uses a Florentine bezel, the 1807 a bark bezel, and the 1811 a Morellis bezel; the 1804's defining external change is the diamond setting.

The 36mm case, caliber 1555/1556 lineage, non-quickset day-and-date mechanism, and President bracelet connect the 1804 to the 1803. The reference-specific evidence concerns the bezel, case metal, dial, calendar discs, and bracelet fitment on each example.

Production outline

Printed catalogue research places the 1804 in the 1961 Day-Date range, while auction and reference sources place the first examples around 1959/60. The reference shares the Day-Date case-serial stream rather than having a separate sequence. Documented examples continue into the late 1970s, when the five-digit diamond-bezel references appear. No Rolex production total or complete serial boundary has been published.

Movement notes

The 1804 uses the standard four-digit Day-Date movement lineage: caliber 1555 in early examples and caliber 1556 from about 1965. The 1556 is commonly described with a 19,800 vph rate, an additional jewel, and Microstella regulation. Hacking was introduced during the 1500-family run; no quickset is documented for the four-digit Day-Date, so day and date advance by running the hands through midnight. There is no 1804-specific caliber. The Reference:Movements page holds the family lineage, and the 1803 entry covers the transition in detail.

Dial map

The 1804 took the standard 4-digit Day-Date dials, but its signature configurations are the gem-set and special ones.

 
A white-gold 1804 with a carmine-red Stella lacquer dial and diamond bezel, Stella lacquer is documented on the 1804 itself, not only the plain 1803.

Diamond-set hour markers on silvered or champagne grounds are documented on standard gem-set examples. Sotheby's catalogued a platinum example with a blue diamond-index dial dated to about 1978. Phillips catalogued the yellow-gold “Octopussy” with a champagne dial and blue sapphire baguette markers.

Two named dial descriptions recur in auction and collector literature. “Brooklyn Bridge” describes a platinum 1961 example with a linear geometric engraved dial, eight round-brilliant markers, and baguettes at 6 and 9. “Scheherazade” is Pucci Papaleo's name for an Eastern-Arabic platinum configuration with applied white-gold Arabic numerals and Arabic day-and-date discs. These names identify catalogued examples or branches; they are not Rolex reference designations.

Stella lacquer dials are documented on 1804 examples in several colours, including blue, green, pink, red, and burgundy, sometimes with baguette markers. The cited sources do not establish a complete colour list. Onyx examples belong to later five-digit references in the sources reviewed; an onyx-on-platinum 1804 is not documented here.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

The case is the 36mm gold or platinum Oyster shared across the four-digit Day-Date, with a Twinlock crown, screw-down caseback, and acrylic crystal. The factory diamond-set bezel distinguishes the 1804 from the fluted 1803. Catalogued stone counts vary: Phillips examples use 44 diamonds, another white-gold example 46, and the yellow-gold “Octopussy” 48. Those are lot-specific observations, not a single universal 1804 specification.

 
The yellow-gold Octopussy 1804, a 48-diamond bezel with sapphire-baguette markers on a gem-set President, the high-jewellery extreme of the reference.

The 1804 shares much of the 1803 case architecture, and auction lots can carry an inner caseback stamp reading 1803. Attribution therefore requires the between-lug reference, bezel, case, movement, dial, and service history; a caseback stamp alone is not decisive. Aftermarket gem-setting exists, so paperwork and component-level inspection matter.

Bracelets, end links, and clasps

The 1804 is documented on President bracelets, including gem-set President bracelets on some gem-set examples. A clasp date code dates the bracelet, not the watch head, and service can put a later bracelet on an earlier case. The cross-family bracelet detail sits on Reference:Bracelets.

Special branches

The platinum Arabic Day-Dates

The platinum Eastern-Arabic configuration pairs applied white-gold Arabic numerals and Arabic day-and-date discs with a diamond bezel. Pucci Papaleo uses “Scheherazade” for this configuration. Phillips sold a 1960 example in 2015, and Antiquorum catalogued a separate circa-1966 example in 2023. The sources do not document the original ordering rationale for every watch.

Brooklyn Bridge

A platinum 1961 1804 with a linear geometric engraved dial, described as “Brooklyn Bridge,” sold at Phillips in Geneva in May 2015 for CHF 305,000. It is distinct from the Eastern-Arabic example sold in the same auction; both are platinum and diamond-set.

Oman and Khanjar commissions

Khanjar-marked Day-Dates appear in the auction and specialist record, including a 1975 1804 “Flaming Sword” with a burgundy Stella dial in Phillips' 2015 sale. Attribution to a specific retailer or commission route needs to be checked on the individual case, dial, paperwork, and provenance; a repeated catalogue description is not a factory order record.

Auction record

The table records individual 1804 auction lots across platinum, gold, Arabic, Stella, and gem-set configurations. Estimates and results vary with metal, dial, bezel, provenance, condition, and service history; they are not a price guide or a complete ranking of the reference.

date house configuration result
May 2015 Phillips Geneva, Glamorous Day-Date, lot 21 platinum, 44-diamond bezel, "Brooklyn Bridge" geometric engraved dial, 1961, cal. 1555 CHF 305,000
May 2015 Phillips Geneva, Glamorous Day-Date, lot 24 platinum, 44-diamond bezel, Eastern-Arabic "Scheherazade" dial, 1960 CHF 185,000
Nov 2024 Phillips Geneva XX, lot 131 yellow gold "Octopussy", 48-diamond bezel, sapphire-baguette dial, gem-set President, 1976 CHF 203,200
May 2015 Phillips Geneva, Glamorous Day-Date, lot 12 "The Flaming Sword", burgundy Stella dial with Khanjar emblem, 1975 CHF 191,000
Nov 2023 Antiquorum Hong Kong, lot 163 platinum "Scheherazade", Eastern-Arabic, diamond bezel, c.1966 HKD 1,375,000
Oct 2022 Monaco Legend Group, Exclusive Timepieces 30, lot 270 platinum, 46-diamond bezel, Eastern-Arabic dial, 1968 EUR 260,000
May 2015 Phillips Geneva, Glamorous Day-Date, lot 35 platinum, diamond bezel, full set, 1967 CHF 56,250
May 2015 Antiquorum Geneva, lot 478 white gold, 46-diamond bezel, carmine-red Stella diamond dial, 1968 CHF 47,500
Oct 2021 Monaco Legend Group, Exclusive Timepieces 25, lot 159 white gold, diamond bezel, diamond-index dial, 1975 EUR 59,800
Jan 2022 Antiquorum Monaco, lot 42 yellow gold, diamond bezel, burgundy Stella diamond dial, c.1977 EUR 35,100
Dec 2023 Sotheby's Important Watches, lot 15 platinum, blue diamond-index dial, diamond bezel, c.1978 not sold (est. USD 30,000–60,000)

Related references

See also the Day-Date family index, movement reference, bracelet & clasp guide, and serial numbers by year.

  •  
    Platinum Eastern-Arabic example
  •  
    White-gold Stella lacquer dial
  •  
    Yellow-gold gem-set example

Sources

Retrieved from "https://rolexopedia.net/index.php?title=Reference:1804&oldid=11294"